Brinton, Tim

Tim was educated at Summer Fields, Eton and went to the University of Geneva.  After National Service, he trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama and in the early 1950s he joined the BBC as a radio announcer.

From 1955 until 1957, he headed Radio Hong Kong’s English programmes before returning to the UK to join BBC TV, where he was an in-vision announcer and newsreader.  In 1959, he moved to the ‘other side’, to become one of ITN’s first newscasters, where he remained until 1962.

His debonair good looks and deep, velvet voice made him very popular.

Tim’s career as a broadcaster in radio and television covered an enormous repertoire.  He presented Roundabout on the BBC Light Programme, produced special documentary features for ITN and Pathé Pictorial and sports fans might remember him from ITV’s Let’s Go.  He presented for ITV Sport in 1960.

He interviewed the Shah of Iran before his downfall.  During a report on Turkish Baths, he unintentionally became the first nude newscaster on television.

He also made cameo appearances, usually in a newscaster role, in various TV programmes and films including:

• The Avengers (1962);
• The Power Game (1965);
• Budgie (1972);
• Dixon of Dock Green (1974);
• Carry on Emmannuelle (1978).

Among the television commercials he fronted were the Stork Margarine Challenge and the Daily Sketch.

In 1977, he presented a spoof science programme for Anglia Television called Alternative 3, in which millions were duped into thinking that scientists were being taken to colonise the moon because earth was doomed.  It was intended to be broadcast on April Fool’s Day but due to industrial action its transmission was delayed until 20th June.

He was a Kent County Councillor from 1974 until 1981 and later appointed to the Court of London University as a County Councillor.

In 1979, he was elected as the Conservative MP for Gravesend, winning the seat from Labour with a large majority.  He left Parliament in 1987 and in 2003 joined UKIP.

He continued his broadcasting consultancy, training many broadcasters, businessmen and politicians; he also chaired a district health authority.

Tim was married twice and had six children – one of whom is the Liberal Democrat politician, Baroness Sal Brinton.  After his death, aged 79, it was revealed that he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for five years.

Personal information

Clips of Tim on The TV Room

Tim may be featured in video/audio clips on our other websites. Click the links below to display a listing (a 404 error will appear if no clips are found):

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Online presence

Acknowledgements